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2006 CES/T.H.E. Show
Page Two
 Escalante
Design. Following up on the success
of their fabulous Pinyon monitor and Uinta
subwoofer, Escalante Design’s brilliant
designer Tierry Budge, has developed the
Fremont ($14,990/pr), an awesome
“mega-monitor” that can produce bass down to
18Hz(!) while getting amazing midrange clarity
and dynamics out of a pair of “direct coupled”
12” woofers. Almost as amazing as the sound
was the drop-dead-gorgeous, high-gloss cherry
red finish of the cabinets. Brushed aluminum
accent elements and a stand specially designed
by Escalante CEO, Matt Waldron helps these
speakers make an impressive visual and sonic
statement. Amplification came from the great
Butler Audio Monad tubed monoblock amplifiers
($19,000/pr) and Modwright SWL 9.0se preamp
($2,200). The signal source was provided by
the venerable Electrocompaniet EMC-1 and a
Stax Talent DAC ($2,700). Rounding out the
system was Shunyata Research cabling and Hydra
6 power conditioner, Acoustic Dreams 4-shelf
rack, amp stands, and Dead Ball Isolators,
Acoustic Silver Resonator, and Shakti
Innovations Hallographs. As much as I enjoyed
the sound in this room, I enjoyed the company
just as much. Tierry, Matt, and the whole
Escalante crew are as nice as they come in our
industry.
 Lamm
Industries. Big amps, big speakers,
big sound, and thankfully a big room. Lamm
Industries featured a couple of new amps in
the powerful ML1.2 Reference hybrid
($21,690/pr) and ML2.1 single-ended tube
monoblocks ($26,990/pr). They also used L2
Reference preamp ($14,790), and LP2 phono
preamp ($6,990). The ML1.2 amps did a heroic
job of driving the Wilson Audio Maxx 2
loudspeakers to room shaking volume levels and
still maintained a musically satisfying
presence. The Metronome C2 Signature DAC and
Kalista transport provided the digital signal
from the stunning classical disc, Mephisto &
Co. [Reference Recordiongs]. The system got a
major assist from the splendid Silversmith
Palladium interconnects and speaker cables. A
VPI H-RX turntable w/JMW tonearm and
Dynavector DRT XV-1S cartridge were also on
hand. The components sat on Audiophile Base
racks and stands.
Jadis/Pierre
Gabriel. When you think of great
sounding small demos the names Pierre Gabriel
and Jadis probably won’t be the first to come
to mind, but at this show they demoed a system
that retailed for less than $9,000!. The
system featured Gabriel’s wonderful new Series
A Evolution loudspeakers ($2,495/pr), Jadis
Orchestra Evolution integrated amp ($2,995)
and Symphonia Evolution CD player ($3,495).
Forget that like all Pierre Gabriel and Jadis
equipment that these things are nice to look
at, they are a joy to listen to. And
considering both companies’ lineage, they’re a
flat out bargain!
 Swedish
Statement. What do you get when
five Swedish manufacturers bring their best
products together for one big show
demonstration? The Swedish Statement, a rare
listening experience with a price tag that
will make you pray for a lottery jackpot. The
system, which was comprised of the Nordic
Concept Artist Signature turntable ($18,000),
Bladelius Design Group Gondul CD player
($14,000) and Beowulf monoblocks amps
($37,500), Marten Coltrane Supreme
loudspeakers ($250,000), Jorma Design Jorma
Prime cables ($71,800), and Woo Design
component furniture ($11,000), had a huge
presence and startling dynamics that at times
frankly, seemed to overwhelmed their rather
small room. As great as this system sounded I
couldn’t help but wonder how much better it
would have been in a larger room. The price of
this system? $402,300.00.
 Viola
Audio Labs. With a lineage that
includes Mark Levinson Audio and Cello, the
products from Viola Audio Labs have a lot to
live up to. They do that and then some. Build
quality and sonics are as good as exists at
any price. Their massive Allegro three-way
monitors were perched atop their Basso passive
subwoofers and driven to surprising volume
levels by their diminutive 75-watt Forte
monoblock amplifiers ($10,000/pr). They were
fed a signal from the Cadenza preamplifier
($16,000) and a Bel Canto CD player was the
source. Also on display was the
top-of-the-line Spirito preamplifier ($40,000)
and Symphony stereo power amp ($16,000). To
date, most, if not all of Viola’s business has
been done outside of the U.S., but if these
components ever do gain a foothold here they
are well worth seeking out if for no other
reason than to admire there build quality and
startlingly accurate image reproduction. Also
worth mentioning was the system setup by The
Audiophile Source’s Michael Broughton. While
many rooms struggled with setup, this room
achieved exceptional sound and without
littering the room with a bunch of tweaks.
 Vitus
Audio/Focus. This is the third year
that I have enjoyed the offerings of Hans-Ole
Vitus. His products are among the best built
and best sounding that I have ever seen or
heard. Build quality borders on fanatical and
the sonics are superb. Of course they’re
priced that way too. The SM-101 mono amps are
$49,000/pr, the SL-100 linestage are $28,000.
New offerings from the company included the
$12,000 SS-010 non-balanced stereo amp.
Partnering with Vitus at CES for the first
time was Focus Audio (the new distributor for
Vitus). The system featured new Focus Audio
loudspeakers, the dCS P8i SACD player
($13,995), and prototype cables created by
former Argento cable designer Anders Grove.
The beauty of this gear must be seen to be
believed.
Okay, happy now. But to be honest by the time
you read this I will have remembered about a
half dozen other rooms that were at least as
good. So keep an eye out for additional
reports, including one that focuses on all of
the wonderful products that are coming from
Asia from companies like Original, Xindak,
Audio Space, and JAS Audio. Plenty more to
come folks so stay tuned.
In the meantime, in case you ever wondered
whether or not stereo writers ever have any
other hobbies …
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